College National Champs and Super Bowl Champions in Florida?

The football season in college and the NFL has been like an episode of Stranger Things. Bad teams are good and good teams aren’t even in the playoffs. For college, one of the best teams all year, Ohio State, was eliminated in their first playoff game after having a bye for the first week. Texas was the pre-season #1 and they missed the playoffs completely. In the NFL, the Patriots and the Bears are good. The Chiefs didn’t even make the playoffs.

But wouldn’t it be wild if two teams that haven’t been that good in the last few years, the University of Miami and the Jacksonville Jaguars end up being the champions of football? Miami is one of four left and still have a tough road ahead. The Jaguars are peaking going into the playoffs so it’s very possible that the state of Florida is home to two champions in the highest levels of football.

And I didn’t even mention the Tampa Buccaneers! Their destiny is in the hands of the New Orleans Saints. If the Saints march past the Falcons, the Bucs will go marching into the playoffs.

Fun times ahead in the football world.

-Out of the Wilderness

Two Best College Football Moments – 2025

College football has been quite entertaining this season. It’s nice not being tied to any particular team because then I get to cheer for whoever I want for any reason. Underdog? Sure! Whoever plays against Alabama? You know it! The playoffs have narrowed the teams down to four: Ole Miss, Miami, Oregon, Indiana. Some of the best didn’t finish the season like they’d hoped but there are still two best moments from what I’ve seen this season. Of course, there are incredible catches, comebacks, and quarterbacks, but off the field is where my favorite things happened.

  1. The ACC referees letting viewers in on yellow flag and challenge decisions. They call it the game-day review center. Every game should have this.

2. Brutus crossing out the M and writing Ohio in the snow during the Michigan game.

There are tons more great moments but these are my top 2. What are your favorites from the season?

-Out of the Wilderness

The TurboTax Want to Ride My Bicycle Commercial – The Song and More

No one likes doing taxes. So what does TurboTax do? Pair taxes with something a lot of people like doing- riding bikes! From the good ol’ days riding side by side with my brother (who inspired this trucker cap) like we were Jon and Ponch (if you know, you know) to cycling through towns in sprint triathlons, I love riding my bike.

If you’re going to feature cycling in your ad, what song would go well with that? Well, TurboTax might have picked the perfect song. Check out the commercial then scroll down for more about the song…

The Song. The song is “Bicycle Race” performed by Ravyn Lenae. Here’s the full track as released in 2025.

One of One. Of course, we need to give credit where credit is due. The song was originally released in 1978 by Queen. Listen to Freddie Mercury’s unforgettable voice in the song (which he wrote) below.

Maybe this ad won’t make taxes any more fun, but it’s a good reminder to get on our bikes and ride!

-Out of the Wilderness

You know pickleball is serious when…

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the U.S., and that’s been true for a few years. Figuring out why that’s the case isn’t very hard. It can be played by people of all ages, body shapes, skill level, talents, and… don’t bring this up with tennis players… but it can be played on any tennis court across the country. Earlier today I wondered how disc golfers must feel right about now. “Like, why haven’t people fallen in love with disc golf!!??” is what they’re probably asking. BECAUSE YOU’RE A NERD! We see your fanny pack full of 25 discs.

There are official statistics that show the uptick in people participating in pickleball, but do you know another way to tell it’s caught on big-time? Shoes.

It wasn’t too far in the past that the only brand with a pickleball shoe was Skechers. But if you were to look up a shoe now, as I did, you’ll find dozens of brands. In other words, brands see where there’s money to be made and put their products in the mix. Pickleball is a legitimate sport even if your DUPR is barely over 3.0 🥴.

I bought new running shoes early in 2025. I was (and still am) into sprint triathlons but various factors impacted my races that year. I only participated in two! That definitely wasn’t the plan. One got cancelled, another was full so I got on the waitlist. Then I hurt my knee. Circumstances kept me from more races but in that time, I picked up pickleball a lot more than I had previously. Even with the knee injury, I was able to move side to side and up and back on the pickleball court so playing just made sense. It’s all just for fun. Until yesterday.

For the first time ever, I looked up pickleball shoes… and of course all the ads I see now are targeted pickleball shoe ads. I’m currently using Brooks running shoes but I need something else. Now I’m serious. I need a pickleball specific shoe, especially since I have two tournaments coming up and I really want my DUPR to go up .00001.

-Out of the Wilderness

Everything Drops at Midnight

When I was growing up, there was the ball in New York City, and that was it. Maybe other cities around the country had some sort of smaller celebration but I don’t remember ever hearing about those. It was Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve or nothing. The one show that comes to mind right away is the one with The Bangles. They played their hit song “Walk Like An Egyptian” and do you remember someone’s earring falling off during the broadcast? Was it Heather Locklear who had the wardrobe malfunction? Tracy Scoggins? Am I misremembering this??

Many years later when I lived in Nashville, the Nashville New Year’s Eve show became a big event. There, they drop a music note.

Now there are a million other cities doing their own version of a gigantic drop of some sort so how will you be celebrating tonight? And if you say, I’ll be sleeping as the clock strikes midnight, you are my people. Sleep is so underrated on New Year’s Eve! Of course, there’s a little thing called college football playoffs tonight, too, which will draw a lot of viewers on TV. I’ll end this post up by saying Happy New Year to you, wherever you are. I hope this year ends on a high note and next year begins with success. Go to the gym!

-Out of the Wilderness